Mechanical toy



P 1935. K. E. BOISSONEAU 2,013,709

MECHANICAL TOY Filed Feb. 18, 1935 awe/whom Patented Sept. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

eration and imitate movements of the bird or animal represented by the toy.

Another object of the invention is to provide a toy having movable bill and wing members if it is a representation of a bird as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, or movable jaw and arm members if it represents an animal, means being provided for imparting movements to these members as the toy moves across the floor.

Another object of the invention is to so form the means for propelling the toy across a floor that a wobbling motion may be imparted to it when the toy is in motion and thus provide a very amusing toy.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for creating noises representing cries of the bird or animal when the toy is in motion and thus giving the impression that the bird or animal has been alarmed and is running away.

Another object of the invention is the pro-vision of a toy wherein the'propelling mechanism consists of a spring motor housed in the body of the figure where it will be concealed from view.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved toy.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken along the line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken along the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view showing the sound producing mechanism upon an enlarged scale.

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing a modified form of a disc supporting a foot pivoted thereto.

The walking toy has a body I formed of sheet metal or other suitable material and having a head 2 at its upper end from which projects an upper bill member 3. The lower end of the body is closed by a bottom 4 having openings 5 formed therein near opposite sides of the body and the body is formed with side openings 6 spaced downwardly from the head 2. Wings 1 formed of sheet metal are disposed at opposite sides of the body and at their upper ends have shanks 8 which project inwardly through the openings 6 and are pivotally mounted, as shown at 9. A lower bill member I0 is disposed under the upper bill member in its natural position and has its rear portion projecting inwardly into the body and pivotally mounted by a. pin I l. The figure will thus have a lower bill member and wings which are movable vertically about their pivots and give the impression of a bird opening and closing its bill and. flapping its wings when the toy is in operation. 5

Within the body is mounted a motor frame l2 which extends vertically therein and has side walls or flanges l3. There has also been provided an upper frame 14 which is supported above the motor frame by a shank I5 and formed with side 10 flanges through which the pin l I passes. A crank shaft Hi is rotatably supported by upper end portions of the side flanges of the motor frame or support and has cranks l! at its ends with which are engaged lowerends of links l8 carried by inner l5 ends of the shanks of the wings. The crank shaft is also provided with a crank arm intermediate its length engaged by a link or rod l9 depending from the inner end of the lower bill member, and by referring to Figure 2 it will be readily seen that 20 when the crank shaft is rotated, motion will be imparted to the bill member and the wings. The driving force is received from a coiled spring 29 coiled about a winding shaft 2| with one end anchored to the shaft and its other end anchored to the motor frame. A clutch disc 22, which is fixed to the winding shaft, has engagement with a ratchet gear 23 which is loose about the winding shaft. This arrangement permits the winding shaft and clutch disc to be turned in a direc- 30 tion to wind the spring without rotating the ratchet gear but when the winding shaft is released and is rotated in an opposite direction by the spring, rotation will be imparted to the ratchet gear, and, as this gear meshes with a pinion 2d carried by the. crank shaft, rotary motion will be transmitted to the crank shaft. The ratchet gear also meshes with a pinion 25 carried by a driven shaft 26 rotatably mounted near lower ends of the side flanges of the motor shaft and, therefore,

this shaft and traction disks 21 carried thereby will be rotated. The traction disks are oval in shape and disposed in angular relation to each other, as shown in Figure 1, so that as these disks which project through the openings 5 of the body move the toy forwardly along a floor, a wobbling motion will take place. It will be obvious that circular disks may be used in place of oval disks and cause the toy to move without wobbling.

When this toy is in use, the winding shaft is grasped by the finger hold at its outer end and turned to wind the spring, the traction disks being held so that they cannot rotate during winding of the spring. After the spring has been wound it is placed upon the floor and as the spring unwinds rotation will be imparted to the traction disks to move the figure forwardly and rotation also imparted to the crank shaft to cause the wings to flap and the lower bill member to open and close. It is desired to have noises produced representing cries of alarm emitted by the bird or animal depicted by the figure and, therefore, there has been provided a clapper strip 28 formed from a strip of resilient metal or strand of resilient wire. This clapper is secured at one end, as shown at 29, and extends under a cross bar or rod 30 with its free end resting upon a bracket 3 I. The clapper is of such length that its free end is disposed for engagement by a lug 32 projecting from the eye 33 at the lower end of the link l9 and, therefore, as the crank shaft rotates the clapper will be raised andthen released so that it will strike the bracket and produce a noise representing the squawk of a scared penguinor a cry produced by some other bird or animal. The toy will, therefore, afford amusement to those operating it.

The modified form shown in Fig. 5, consists of a disc 21 rigidly secured to the drive shaft 26. The said shaft is secured off center on the disc and when in motion the toy wobbles. Feet 34 (one shown) having upright portions 35 are loosely mounted on pins 36. The pins are rigidly secured off center on the discs and as the discs revolve the feet are raised and lowered. The effect of this action has the appearance of a walking toy.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A toy comprising a hollow body having an opening in its bottom, a driven shaft extending transversely through the lower portion of said body, traction disks carried by said shaft and projecting through the opening, a motor in said body geared to said shaft, a crank shaft rotated by said motor, wings at sides of said body having shanks extending into the body and pivotally mounted, links connecting said shanks with the crank shaft for imparting flapping movement to the wings, a bill projecting forwardly from the body and having the rear portion extending into the body and pivotally mounted, an actuating rod having its upper end pivoted to the rear end of said bill and its lower end connected to the crank shaft and provided with an abutment lug, a clapper strip in said body having a free end disposed for engagement by said lug, and a bracket for striking engagement by said clapper when the lug moves out of engagement with the clapper.

2. A toy comprising a hollow body having an opening at its bottom, a movable member projecting forwardly from said body and pivoted thereto with its rear portion within the body, side members pivoted to said body and having actuating shanks extending horizontally in the body, a rotatable driven shaft extending transversely in the lower portion of said body, traction disks carried by said shaft and projecting outwardly through the opening at the bottom of the body, a spring motor in said body geared to said driven shaft, a crank shaft rotated by said motor, an actuating rod extending vertically in said body having its upper end pivoted to the inner end of said movablemember and its lower end connected with an arm of the crank shaft, links connected with other arms of the crank shaft and with the shanks of the side members, a sound producing device in said body, and an abutment moving withthe actuating rod for actuating the sound producing device as the crank shaft rotates and movement is imparted to the rod and links.

' 3. A toy comprising a hollow body having openings at its bottom, a motor frame in said body, an upper frame in said body having a supporting shank rising from the motor frame, a bill having its rear portion extending into said body and pivoted to the upper frame, wings having arms extending into said body from opposite sides and pivotally mounted, a crank shaft carried by said motor frame, an actuating rod connecting the inner end of said bill with said crank shaft, actuating links connecting inner ends of the arms of said wings with said crank shaft, a driven shaft carried by said motor frame, traction disks carried by said driven shaft and projecting through the openings at the bottom of the body, a winding shaft carried by said motor frame, a spring for rotating the winding shaft, gears for transmitting rotation from the winding shaft to the crank shaft and driven shaft, a bracket, a clapper strip having a free end normally resting against said bracket, and a lug projecting from said actuating rod for engagement with said clapper to spring the clapper away from the bracket as the crank shaft rotates.

4. A toy comprising a hollow vertically disposed body having a ground engaging lower end wall, a driven shaft extending transversely through the lower portion of said body, traction discs carried by saidshaft and projecting through openingsformed in the bottom of the body, feet disposed externally of the body and having shanks intermediate their ends extending upwardly into the body through the disc receiving openings and pivoted to the discs at sides thereof in eccentric relation to the discs whereby the feet move vertically toward and away from a surface over which the body moves as the discs rotate, rear portions of the feet having engagement with the bottom of the body as the feet move upwardly thus tilting the feet, and means for rotating said shaft.

KERMIT E. BOISSONEAU. 

